Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble: Blending formal, non-formal, and informal approaches in the rehearsal

Description

Coaching a Popular Music Ensemble is a comprehensive guide for the music teacher striving to meet the changing needs of their students, the university music educator examining our current music education paradigm, and the band director trying to expand their school’s music program. Using his broad experiences as an educator and Memphis musician, Holley details the philosophy and approaches he used to create this culturally responsive, award-winning, student-driven music program. Some of the concepts described include the roles of the musicians in a popular music ensemble, explanations of a variety of rehearsal techniques, and how to go about creating a learner-centered rehearsal environment. Whether you believe the goal of music education is to produce more professional musicians or nurture more musical professionals, this book will help you and your students achieve that aspiration.

“I am thrilled to see such a wise, balanced and creative account of knowledge and practice in the field, and of your own excellent approaches. The book is refreshingly straight-forward without in any way being reductive. Engaging, insightful and directly linked to practice, this book makes a fantastic contribution to innovative pedagogy and will support the incorporation of popular music not only for higher education professors but for many working with younger students, too.” – Dr. Lucy Green, author of How Popular Musicians Learn

“What Steve Holley has done is capture the important elements of coaching a popular music ensemble in an easily accessible text that anyone can connect and learn from. This book is relevant for the expert and the beginner, and opens up the discussion not just content, but more importantly diverse ways for facilitating and sharing.” – Jarritt Sheel, Assistant Professor – Music Education, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA 

“A long overdue contribution to the conversation about how to teach popular music in K-12 settings. The book comprehensively covers the topic through a combination of music education theory and practically based suggestions gleaned from Steve’s many years as a popular music facilitator. This book is a must have for teachers interested in starting their own popular music program, for pre-service music educators, and for professors who train young music educators heading off into the field.” – Judy Lewis, Assistant Professor – Music Teaching and Learning, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

“From chapters discussing the ethos of popular music education and its relationship with other areas of practice, to chapters that provide specific ways to assist and engage with instrumentalists, this book sets forth a range of highly valuable information and ideas that will make it a valuable addition to the toolkit of any teacher who wants to be involved in popular music education.” – Zack Moir, Lecturer in Music & Director, Applied Music Research Centre – Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland

“One of the biggest challenges we face in explaining all of the components involved in creating a Popular Music Program is we tend to overwhelm teachers when they examine our program. Steve Holley has solved this problem with his outstanding book that manages to break down all of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of implementing a popular music program that makes sense to music teachers.” – Jamie Knight, former director – The Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts

 “I have watched and enjoyed Steve’s approach to non-traditional music education over a long period of time, and he is certainly the right person to write this book. It takes a wide array of skills and the ability to translate the nuances of that particular style to teach this music. This book will help the band director develop those skills.”

– Paul McKinney, Music Director/Jazz Studies Coordinator – The Stax Music Academy, Memphis, TN

“Popular music education not only enhanced our music program, it saved it. With fewer than 20 students enrolled, we had to find something that would ignite interest in music in a way that was culturally relevant to our students. Popular music was the answer. The pedagogical insights that Steve provides in this book are both ingenious and innovative.” – Michael Parsons, Producer – Director of Instrumental Music – Briarcrest Christian School ‘Soundscape,’ 2019 DownBeat Student Music Award winner, Memphis, TN